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“I am too,” Cameron said.

“I don’t understand how we’re going to hide this from everyone.” Anthony’s voice was laced with concern. “It feels too…”

“Momentous?”

“Yeah.”

Cameron felt it too, like he was forever changed. There was his life before he met Anthony, and then there was everything that had followed. And all that was yet to come.

CHAPTER 22

October 13th, 1992

“I need you.”

Mindy looked up from a table covered in various items of clothing, magazines, and some rather sad attempts at fashion drawings. All of it was forgotten when she saw Cameron Huxley. His hand was extended in offering. Feeling as though she was caught up in one of her fantasies, Mindy placed her palm against his and was pulled to her feet.

“This way,” Cameron said, leading her toward the front of the auditorium stage.

Keisha and Robert were already standing there. Cameron parked her next to them before walking backwards with his hands raised.

“Picture this for Act One,” he said, opening his arms wide. “Belle is walking through the town square and interacting with everyone she meets there. We talked about having one long backdrop to represent the village, but I’m thinking we should create a sense of depth.” Cameron spun around and sprinted deeper into the stage. “We’ll have a few building facades made of wood in the middle, with a couple off to each side. We’ll add more along the edges as we get closer to the audience. I can build a simple booth that’s selling food of some sort. Pies, maybe. And I’ll bring a shelf to put outside the bookstore—bargains to attract customers. We can have Belle meet the owner outside for that scene.” He kept pointing at things that didn’t exist yet. Then he blinked, as if remembering that he had an audience. “I can build it all, but you’d need to paint it, Robert. That might mean extra work—"

“It’ll actually be easier for me,” Robert interjected. “I wasn’t looking forward to painting a sheet.”

“Great!” Cameron turned to her and grinned. “Mindy, how do you feel about adding ten more costumes?”

“Panicked,” she replied.

“I know, but listen. It’ll just be for extras to wear. I want it to actuallyfeellike a town, and for that we need people walkingaround. I volunteer to be a random citizen. I bet some of the other stagehands will too.” He pointed at Keisha. “Which is where you come in, because it’s going to look dumb if the same people keep walking back and forth across the stage. I’d rather they each have goals in mind that they act out naturally. Maybe someone will browse the books before sitting next to the fountain and things like that.”

“What fountain?” Robert asked, sounding concerned.

“I have some ideas for that too,” Cameron said. “We can go over it later. What do you think?”

“Ten extras is too many to handle,” Keisha said. “You’re asking for trouble. But with a few simple wardrobe changes, we can cycle people in and out.”

“That’s perfect!” Cameron looked to Mindy and winced. “Isn’t it?”

“I can make it work,” she said, despite not knowing if she actually could. But at least she sounded confident.

“Then we officially have a plan,” Cameron said, clasping his hands together. “I’ll run it by Ms. Deville, and if she gives the green light, I’ll coordinate with each of you.”

Robert was the only one who didn’t look convinced. “I still think this entire scene is too close to the movie.”

Keisha snorted. “Good! Just imagine the free publicity we’ll get if Disney sues our school.”

After a few more comments, Keisha and Robert wandered off. Mindy stayed where she was and watched Cameron take measurements.

“Sorry,” he said when noticing her. “I didn’t mean to create more work for you.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m way more concerned about how we’re going to dress someone up like a teapot or a candlestick. And how we’re going to stop Whitney from laughing during those parts.”

“Yeah,” Cameron said. “That’ll be our biggest challenge. She keeps talking to the Beast like he’s an adorable puppy.”

“I’m thinking of repurposing a werewolf costume from the Halloween aisle,” Mindy said. “The Beast is supposed to be scary, right?”

“That’s a great idea!” Cameron seemed to reassess her. “You’re really clever. You know that?”